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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Las Balsillas and Torre de la iglesia del Salvador

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
150 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 34
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

150 km from Albarracín to Albarracín, about 3 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Barranco del Pajarejo, Torre de la iglesia del Salvador and back through Barranco del Pajarejo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Las Balsillas

    Las Balsillas means the little pools, and in a sandstone forest where rain drains away fast, a hollow that holds water is worth naming. What matters is the setting: red rock under dark pine, with a floor of needles that muffles every sound.

    Read the complete Las Balsillas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Las Balsillas is where the day begins. Next is Barranco del Pajarejo.

  2. 2. Barranco del Pajarejo

    Red rock, dark pines and a sky that seems higher than it should be: that is the country south of Albarracín, where the Barranco del Pajarejo cuts into the sandstone. Geologists call this stone rodeno, a coarse red sandstone that weathers into towers, overhangs and smooth shelters, and prehistoric people used those shelters as canvases. The Pinares de Rodeno protected landscape around Albarracín holds a well-known group of painted shelters with bulls, deer and human figures in white and red, and this gully is part of that wider area, quiet and seldom visited.

    Read the complete Barranco del Pajarejo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Barranco del Pajarejo comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Torre de la iglesia del Salvador.

  3. 3. Torre de la iglesia del Salvador

    Teruel spent decades as the Spanish joke about forgotten provinces, until its people adopted the slogan Teruel existe, Teruel exists, and turned it into a political movement. Ride into the old centre and you will agree it exists rather vividly. The Torre del Salvador is one of its four great Mudéjar towers, built of brick and glazed ceramic in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by craftsmen trained in the Islamic tradition. The road, or rather a street, still passes through an archway at its base, and you can climb inside, between the outer and inner shells of the tower, up narrow stairs to the bells.

    Read the complete Torre de la iglesia del Salvador write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Torre de la iglesia del Salvador. Next is back through Barranco del Pajarejo.

  4. 4. back through Barranco del Pajarejo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Barranco del Pajarejo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Barranco del Pajarejo, late in the day. Next is Las Balsillas.

  5. 5. Las Balsillas

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Las Balsillas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Las Balsillas. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Las Balsillas to Barranco del Pajarejo

Las Balsillas → Barranco del Pajarejo is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Barranco del Pajarejo to Torre de la iglesia del Salvador

Barranco del Pajarejo → Torre de la iglesia del Salvador is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Torre de la iglesia del Salvador to back through Barranco del Pajarejo

Torre de la iglesia del Salvador → back through Barranco del Pajarejo is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Barranco del Pajarejo to Las Balsillas

back through Barranco del Pajarejo → Las Balsillas is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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